KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Winners of its last nine consecutive contests, LSU-Alexandria (La.) remained in the top spot of the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 poll. The Generals received eight of the nine first-place votes after wins over Our Lady of the Lake (Texas), Southwest (N.M.), Huston-Tillotson (Texas) and St. Thomas (Texas).

William Penn (Iowa) remained in second after having collected a pair of wins since the last poll. The Statesmen have averaged an impressive 95 points over the course of the 16 games that were considered (through 1/13/2019) in this ratings period.

Missouri Baptist jumps to No. 3 this week after coming out on top of a nail-biter with Columbia (Mo.) on Thursday, January 10, 75-73. The Spartans are the last remaining undefeated team in NAIA Division I.

After suffering a setback against Rocky Mountain (Mont.), just the Saints’ second loss on the year, Carroll (Mont.) moved down to No. 4 while The Master’s made its way back into the top five after a one-poll absence. The Mustangs are in the midst of an eight-game winning streak.

Top 25 Highlights (historical information dates back to 2000)

LSU-Alexandria has won nine straight games and is outscoring its opponents 891-757, an average of 15 points per game.

The Generals are No. 1 overall in total scoring offense with 1,807 points and No. 1 in total assists with 406.

William Penn is the top rebounding team in the nation, averaging over 47 per contest. The Statesmen are ranked in the top 10 in 14 statistical categories in the NAIA.

Missouri Baptist remains the last undefeated team in the NAIA with an impressive 18-game win streak. The Spartans are in the midst of the best start in team history and are ranked at the top of the NAIA in scoring defense per game (58.8) and field goal percentage defense (35.7 percent).

Two, three-way ties are featured in the poll this week. Campbellsville (Ky.), Stillman (Ala.) and Tougaloo (Miss.) tied for the No. 10 spot while Central Methodist (Mo.), John Brown (Ark.) and William Jessup (Calif.) all clung to No. 24. William Jessup ended the undefeated season of No. 9 Vanguard on Thursday, 1/10 with an 88-64 win at home.

No. 19 Hope International (Calif.), No. 20 Science & Arts (Okla.) and No. 24 Central Methodist are all new to the Top 25 this week.

Former member Mountain State (W.Va.) owns the most No. 1-rankings with 48, followed by Robert Morris (Ill.) (24) and Georgetown (Ky.) (16). Current No. 1 LSU-Alexandria is next on the list with 14 while former NAIA member Concordia (Calif.) is at 12.

Pikeville (Ky.) owns the longest active streak in the Top 25, which is now at 70 consecutive polls.

Poll Methodology:

The poll was voted upon by a panel of head coaches representing each of the conferences and Association of Independent Institutions.

The Top 25 is determined by a points system based on how each voter ranks the best teams. A team receives 30 points for each first-place vote, 29 for second-place and so on through the list.

The highest and lowest ranking for each team (a non-rating is considered a low ratings) is removed and the team’s ranking will be recalculated with an additional point added to each team for every ballot (including discounted ballots) that the teams appears on.

Teams that receive only one point in the ballot are not considered “receiving votes”

Frequency of polls occur bi-weekly. This policy was approved by the National Administrative Council (NAC) beginning in the 2016-17 academic season. This change will allow raters the opportunity to consider a larger body of work in between rating periods.